


Sweet Tooth

by artemisia_HQ



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (supposedly lmao), Because duh you should know me by now and my insatiable angsty ass, Confessions, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, I was not fckng around when i wrote this, Implied Masturbation, Light Angst, Like in very light detail, M/M, No seriously you'll need a dentist after this, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:47:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22771216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisia_HQ/pseuds/artemisia_HQ
Summary: Hinata continues to messily munch on his chocolate. Smudges of it paint the corners of his mouth and cheeks, and his tongue pokes out to lick it. Tobio stares at him, entranced, as Hinata starts running his pink tongue across his also pink and wet lips, as he sucks on his chocolate-stained fingers, licking them clean with a loud smack as it pops off his mouth.Tobio doesn’t like sweet things but whenever he sees Hinata eats them, the weird tumbling in his stomach escalates and he suddenly craves.Kageyama is determined to change his aversion towards sweets and when he enlisted the help of Hinata to'train'him, he quickly discovers that sweet things aren't all that bad.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 49
Kudos: 534
Collections: best fics





	Sweet Tooth

**Author's Note:**

> Happy valentines! Lmao i know I'm supeeeeeeeer late. I'm just preoccupied with too many stuff and this fic took a huge turn halfway through and i did not intend it to be this long. I mean, what's new, right? XD
> 
> And this is my first dive into that M rating, tho it's not exactly _that_ detailed but better be sure (⌒‿⌒) 
> 
> ***
> 
> Enjoy two dumbasses being huge dumbasses, and remember to brush your teeth after this cause cavities are guaranteed (//ω//)
> 
> Inspired by the song _Candy Store_ by Faber Drive.

Tobio hates candies.

He hates anything sweet, to be more precise. Even as a kid, he doesn’t get the hype, he doesn’t get why the other kids all go crazy over some saccharine stuff that brings nothing but cavities and sticky fingers. He gets more excited at the smell of meat buns and of course, the savory taste of pork curry. Now, _that_ , is pure bliss. Second only to volleyball, of course.

Maybe hate is too strong a word. Indifferent, yeah, that’s it. It’s not like eating candy repulses him and he’s maybe eaten a few milk bars and slices of cake in his life, and he admits, the strawberry yogurt he drinks every other day is on the sweet side of the palate—he just doesn’t get what all the fuss is about. He doesn’t get when the girls in his class gush over magazines featuring sweet pastries and over-the-top milkshakes that make Tobio’s stomach churn just thinking about consuming all that sugar (even if it does have milk as an ingredient). He doesn’t get when the other boys sometimes bring out a whole can of whip cream and spray a mountain of it in their mouths and he doesn’t get how in the world are they not rushed into the infirmary for sugar intoxication.

He doesn’t get it when a girl bows at her waist and extends her arms out to him, a red box decorated with ribbons in her hands. He doesn’t get it when she says she made chocolates for him and hopes he likes them, with her cheeks turning the same shade as the box in her hand.

He doesn’t get it when he says, “I don’t like chocolates,” and the girl would stare at him like he’s grown a second head, her face scrunching up and becoming redder than before, apologizing and wiping her eyes as she turns away from him.

He’s offered cupcakes from this girl just the other day and when he told her icing makes his stomach feel weird, she actually started crying. That confused the hell out of him—icing does make him feel like he's going to be sick, he’s not used to putting concentrated foams of sugar in his system, he was just being honest.

And this particular scene seems to happen more often and it didn’t stop at chocolates and cupcakes. There were cookies and caramel bars and a whole damn cake, and a bunch of other stuff he doesn’t even know the names of, and he _still_ doesn’t get it. Why do people—girls, specifically—just assumes he likes sweets? Why are they so adamant at offering them to him and when he declines, the look they give him eerily reminds him of his teammates from his disdainful middle school past?

“Are you actually stupid?” Hinata tells him incredulously when he voices his concern over lunch. He easily dodges Tobio’s swiping hand like he expected it to come, but still, his expression remains the same, a look of utter disbelief “They were trying to confess to you and you rejected them so harshly!”

“Uh…what?”

Hinata rolls his eyes. “A love confession, Kageyama. Are you really this stupid?”

“Call me stupid one more time or I swear I will--”

“Yeah, yeah, break my neck or something.” Hinata eats the remaining onigiri in his hand, inhaling it in one bite. “I seriously still can’t believe you weren’t even aware you were being confessed to,” he says through a mouthful, or Tobio supposes that’s what he says because what he actually hears are half-words, half-gibberish.

“Well, how am I supposed to know that?” Tobio exclaims, whines, really. He takes a bite on his yakisoba bread and carefully chews and swallows before speaking because he’s not some uncivilized caveman like Hinata. “And why do they have to offer me those sweets? I don’t like sweets.”

“’Course you don’t. You’re a sour puss,” Hinata says with a scoff, and to emphasize his point, he tears open a chocolate bar he conjures out of nowhere, takes a bite, and sighs dreamily. “How can you hate something that tastes _this good_?”

“I don’t hate it. I just don’t enjoy eating sweet things.”

“Still, you should have rejected them more gently. Girls are sensitive, you know.”

Tobio frowns at his half-eaten yakisoba bread as the faces of those girls swim in his head. Their reactions still confuse him but he at least knows he doesn’t like the feeling it entails, especially if taking the meaning of their actions into context. If there is one thing Tobio can relate to the most, it’s the pain of rejection.

“How should I—” he pauses, arranging the words in his head before saying them out loud. “—let them down gently?”

Hinata shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t been on a receiving end of a confession.” He says the last sentence in a murmur, like he’s embarrassed. The revelation surprises Tobio. If there is anyone who should be receiving confessions, it’s Hinata. He’s friendly and warm and likable and sometimes, just _sometimes_ , he’s a little bit…cute. Objectively. Sort of. And _he_ likes sweets, he always seems to have a candy on his bag or pocket, he should be the one being offered those chocolates and cupcakes. Tobio bets he’d be jumping up and down like some sugar-craved idiot as he accepts them.

Though the image of Hinata receiving something from anyone as a declaration of love unsettles his stomach, even more so than imagining himself eating a whole cake in one sitting.

He’s just hungry, he chastises himself, and in one big bite, scarfs down his bread and empties his milk box.

The feeling still remains. Annoyingly.

“Maybe you should at least, you know, accept their gifts?” Hinata suggests and Tobio lifts a brow at him as he wipes his mouth with his sleeves.

“Isn’t that basically the same as accepting their confession?” He asks. “And what would I even do with them? I just said I don’t like eating sweet stuff. Throwing them after I received them seems harsher if you ask me.”

Hinata just gives another ambiguous shrug and continues to messily munch on his chocolate. Smudges of it paint the corners of his mouth and cheeks, and his tongue pokes out to lick it. Tobio stares at him, entranced, as Hinata starts running his pink tongue across his also pink and wet lips, as he sucks on his chocolate-stained fingers, licking them clean with a loud smack as it pops off his mouth.

Tobio doesn’t like sweet things but whenever he sees Hinata eats them, the weird tumbling in his stomach escalates and he suddenly craves.

* * *

“Train me,” Tobio says to Hinata during their water break. Well, more like demands, really, and Hinata flinches at his sudden request, leaning away from him so far back his head collides with the wall behind him.

“Wh-what? Train—huh?” Hinata stutters in palpable confusion as he rubs the back of his head. Then his puzzled expression molds into that of amusement and he grins wickedly. “Oho! What’s this? Is this the day you finally admit that I’m awesome-r than you?”

Tobio answers him with two large hands on his idiotic, messy hair, drilling down his even more idiotic head.

“Candy training,” Tobio says and he belatedly winces at how stupid that sounds. Hinata glares up at him from he’s crouched down on the ground, clutching his head and wailing about violent jerks.

“Huh?”

“If I’m going to accept those sweet stuff…” he trails, hoping Hinata would get where he’s coming from. It has been bothering him the last few days, this confession dilemma. It’s not about the confessions themselves, he can’t stop them from happening—he doesn’t even know how they start—but he can do something about it on his end. Because those forlorn faces, dejected and hurt, haunts him more than he likes to admit. It’s like reliving the past, seeing a reflection of himself, and witnessing those expressions on another person drowns him in shame and guilt.

He’s still on the process of figuring out how to express his thoughts, especially his emotions, into a more considerate manner. He wants to be able to explain things more eloquently, like the way Hinata does, honest and straightforward, yet always seems to be exactly what the person needs to hear. He’s been on the receiving end of it enough times to know how much Hinata’s words can sway a person. Influence them. Change them.

He wants that, the ability to string words from his thoughts and convey them properly with no feelings hurt, both parties coming out of the conversation unscathed. And as much as an annoying dumbass Hinata can be, with his too loud personality all over the place, he is definitely the sweetest, kindest person Tobio has ever met and if he has to bury a huge part of his pride to be able to have a small inkling of that sweetness and apply it to himself, he will.

But he figures a complete change like that wouldn’t be easy, and to be honest, just the thought of himself acting as cheerful and sunny as the stupid idiot sends prickling shivers up his spine. So, he would have to settle for actions and take up Hinata’s suggestion the other day (he begrudgingly realizes that 80% of his thought process about this involves Hinata in some way). He can at least accept those gifts as an act of courtesy and he can just apologize and give volleyball as a reason, which is the absolute truth. He can do that. But if he would receive those sweets, he has to eat them, which leads him to this solution—have Hinata train him to eat candy, however mortifying that prospect is.

(And maybe, consuming sweet things would also make _him_ sweet. Maybe that’s where Hinata gets his boundless energy and compassion, so it’s a win-win situation. He thinks.)

Hinata is still blinking up at him and Tobio prepares himself for the incoming jabs of laughter and teasing he expects but it doesn’t come. Instead, Hinata stands, looks at Tobio with those round, scrutinizing eyes, and nods. It’s freaky and somehow unsettling how easily Hinata can read him, but it’s also reassuring, that even though most people always misinterpret Tobio and paint him as something other than what he’s actually thinking, there’s at least one person who understands him effortlessly without the need for elaborate words.

“Okay!” Hinata beams and puts up a thumbs up. Tobio breathes a silent sigh of relief and he accounts the warm feeling in his chest to that, and _definitely_ not because of the blinding, sweet smile that lights up all of Hinata.

* * *

Their training kicks-off the very next day.

They start small, Hinata gives him those tiny candies in colorful, sparkly wrappers after they eat their lunch. It’s not bad, even though the sweet taste lingers on his tongue and teeth hours after. He doesn’t mind it that much and he thinks he can breeze through this until Hinata starts to give him _two_ , one for lunch and one after volleyball practice. And the torture escalates when Hinata refuses to give him his share of meat buns.

“You just wanted my share, you glutton!”

“No, Bakageyama! This is all part of training! The meat bun would cancel out the candy taste!”

Tobio supposes Hinata has a point, but _no fucking way_ is he going to admit that out loud so he just grunts in frustration and tries not to salivate at the smell of those curry buns, stalwartly looking away as Hinata sinks his teeth in the warm, soft dough. He stomps off and bitterly rolls the candy in his mouth, hating the sugary taste more than ever now.

The torture continues and Hinata seems to enjoy being the enforcer as he excitedly informs Tobio that he has something special for their training today. Tobio is not looking forward to it.

The special _‘something’_ comes in the form of a bag of candies Hinata takes out from his canvas bag with a flourish and a ‘ _ta-da!_ ,’ grinning broadly as he throws the plastic at Tobio. It lands on his lap and he gingerly inspects the contents. He frowns.

“How is this any different from the candies before?” he asks. There is absolutely no difference at all, at least to him, although these are significantly bigger in size than what he’s been eating.

Hinata just smiles toothily. “It’s not about the outside, it’s what’s inside them!”

“Uh…what?”

With a _‘tsk’_ that sounds absolutely condescending, Hinata takes the bag from his hands and unwraps one candy, fumbling and almost dropping it twice due to his excitement. When he finally frees the candy from its cover after who knows how long, he holds it between his fingers to let Tobio have a look.

Tobio edges closer. He squints. Then frowns.

“What’s so special about chocolate?”

Hinata sighs dramatically and shakes his head. “You’re so dumb. It’s not just chocolate, it’s chocolate mint.”

The insult flies over Tobio’s head in his puzzlement and he blinks. “Uh…huh.”

Another sigh heaves out of Hinata. “Let me educate you in the absolute heaven that is chocolate mint.” And with that, he breaks the chocolate in half, revealing a glistening white center. Hinata looks at him starry-eyed like he expects him to jump around in glee with the reveal.

Tobio is still not impressed, though.

“So, you got chocolate with white stuff in it, what’s the big deal?” he scoffs.

“It’s not ‘ _white stuff_.’ It’s _mint_. And the big deal--” Hinata pops the candy in his mouth “—is that it tastes _awesome_.” He punctuates this with a breathy, satisfied moan as he chews on the chocolate and a bolt of electricity runs up Tobio’s spine at hearing Hinata make that sound.

Which is just plain weird.

He ignores it.

“Are you just gonna gawk there or are you gonna eat?” Hinata asks, a glint of challenge shining in his eyes. “Don’t slack on your training, Slackeryama-kun.”

“Give me one,” Tobio says, but he’s already reaching out inside the bag in Hinata’s lap. And with tentative hands and a deep breath he prays Hinata wouldn’t notice (he definitely notices, the dumbass smirks at him), he bites the candy.

And the flavor explodes all over his tongue.

The cool sensation from the mint blends perfectly with the chocolate, slightly tempering its sweetness, and with his every chew, another burst of chill melts in his mouth.

“This is--” he starts, but he’s too busy savoring the taste.

“Good?” Hinata supplies with a wide, knowing grin and Tobio can only nod as his hand takes another candy from the bag.

There’s no room for speaking after that, as they’re both preoccupied unwrapping and munching on probably the best candy Tobio has ever tasted. Granted he hasn’t tasted a lot, but still.

He’s surprised at himself. Even with all the _‘training’_ he’s done so far, he’s not really sure if he’ll ever come to the point where he can eat two candies in a day without having the urge to drink at least a liter of water when he gets home just to get rid of the sweet after taste. But here he is, sitting on the concrete steps of their gym, opening one chocolate after the other with his sticky fingers, eating them with too much gusto.

Maybe his hard work is paying off. Maybe this chocolate mint candy just agrees with his palate.

Or maybe eating this much candy isn’t all that bad when he gets to see Hinata literally light up as he chews with relish, eyes sparkling and cheeks blushing pink. Maybe his unbridled enthusiasm infects Tobio, once again pulling him along into his crazy and wild pace out of Tobio’s accord. Maybe Tobio wants him to.

“Aaaaaah! My mouth feels so fresh!” Hinata exclaims and without warning, takes Tobio’s hands by the wrist and with an open mouth, blows a breath on Tobio’s palm.

The spine-tingling electricity returns a hundred-fold, zapping through him like a bolt of lightning and he quickly pries his hands from Hinata’s grasp. “Wh-what are you doing, d-dumbass!”

“I-I was just trying to make you feel it!” Hinata stammers out, then his cheeks become the same color as his hair, suddenly looking everywhere but directly at Tobio. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Was it cold?”

Tobio stares at his palm still clutched protectively in his chest. It did feel cold, but there’s a different kind of warmth laced beneath it and it seeps through his skin, settling deep in his chest and the pit of his stomach.

“It was,” Tobio says. “But I bet mine is even colder.” He takes Hinata’s hand, and ignoring the surprised squeak from the other boy, puffs out a long, drawled out breath in the small, calloused palm.

The look of absolute shock in Hinata’s face, with his jaw dropped and eyes wide brings a triumphant smirk on Tobio’s face. Serves him right for catching him off guard earlier.

From what exactly, Tobio has no fucking clue.

But Hinata quickly recovers from his surprised state and snorts. “Mine’s mintier and fresher!” he claims and in a fluid motion, he props himself with one arm and inclines forward, right at Tobio’s face. Tobio instinctively leans back, but Hinata only follows and his brown eyes pierce right at him, hooded under thick, gossamer lashes.

Hinata licks his lips and Tobio can feel his pulse tremble in agitation.

Or anticipation.

Then Hinata releases a blast of air right at Tobio’s face and with an obnoxious snort, leans away and clutches his stomach as he doubles over in laughter.

“Oh my _god_! You should have seen your face!”

With how much his face is burning, Tobio probably has an idea. Hinata’s raucous laughter only gets louder and the weird fluttering in his chest is now quickly replaced by annoyance.

“Dumbass!” he yells as he attempts to grab at Hinata’s hair but the dumb idiot still has fast reflexes even if he’s reduced to a snickering mess and he dodges.

“Couldn’t handle how _cool_ I am, Kageyama-kun?” Hinata teases with a smug grin, body posed and prepared to run and in one blink, he takes off, still laughing uncontrollably like some deranged idiot.

“You are _so_ dead,” Tobio threatens after him and the rest of their break ends with one orange-haired dumbass locked under Tobio’s arm, sputtering his apologies and mercies and the promise of another bag of chocolate mint candies.

* * *

The sounds of balls hitting the wooden floor dwindle and quiet down as the whole team settles for a break. Tobio wipes the dripping sweat on his brow and sits by the wall, and Hinata follows suit, flopping down next to him. Tobio peeks at the corner of his eyes and notes the beads of sweat dotting the side of Hinata’s face, tracing a line down his jaw and the curves of his neck.

He never really notices it, because he _doesn’t_ spend time staring at his rival for no apparent reason, but Hinata actually looks…nice, even with his red-blotched face sticky with sweat. Especially in times like this when he’s quiet and kind of calm and not screaming around like a banshee, basically a disaster in human form with too much energy for his own good, or anyone’s good to be honest. Although _that_ Hinata—rowdy and loud and generally irritating—is the Hinata he has grown accustomed to, and if Hinata suddenly becomes subdued and not his usual sunny self, it would admittedly unsettle Tobio, probably comparable to the world ending or something disastrous like that.

But looking at quiet and hushed Hinata as he tips his head to the wall almost in slow-motion, noticing how the lines on his neck go taut, the outline of his Adam’s apple becoming more prominent when he gulps, the way his lips part as he catches his breath, is not a bad sight at all.

Even though it brings an unwarranted flush up Tobio’s cheeks.

It’s probably just from the heat, he reasons. Never mind the fact that it’s the first week of February and the winter season’s chill is still biting the air.

Tobio tears his gaze away from Hinata’s (very nice) profile, hoping the warmth on his face subsides if he does, and instead directs his stare at the doorway as Yachi-san steps inside the gym, huffing and out of breath, cradling a huge box in her arms. Nishinoya-san and Tanaka-san immediately come to her rescue, hauling the box off her hands, all the while saying something about chivalry and honor and knights until their blabbering gets cut off by the captain’s menacing glare.

“What’s in the box, Yachi-san?” Hinata asks, excitement laced in his voice and he hops upright from where he sits to bound up to Yachi-san. Tobio stands; he’s curious, too, and definitely _not_ because his body instinctively follows wherever Hinata goes.

“It’s—uhm—a little something I made for the team,” Yachi-san says with pinkish cheeks as she fidgets with a lock of her hair. She then reaches over the box in Tanaka-san’s arms and opens the flap to reveal its contents.

Instantly, a whiff of something cloyingly sweet fills the air and Tobio’s nose wrinkles.

“ _Waaaaaaah!_ Cupcakes!” Hinata and Nishinoya-san yell in ear-splitting unison as the rest of the team go _‘oooohhhhh’_ as they crowd in delight around Yachi-san and her box of cupcakes—even Tsukishima actually looks enthused for once. Only Tobio remains outside of the circle, increasingly feeling left out.

It has been two weeks since he started his ‘ _training_ ,’ and even though he made a significant amount of progress, he’s nowhere near that breakthrough where he can get genuinely excited at the sight of something sweet. He pulls himself away from the enthusiastic clamors and chatters with a shake of his head and returns to his previous spot on the floor.

He’s about to close his eyes, an attempt to tune out the inharmonious excited sounds, when he feels something nudge his shoe and he looks up, a scowl already contorting his face. It fully forms when he’s met with a cupcake right up his nose, a large dollop of blue frosting decorating the top.

He looks past the pastry and glowers up at Hinata, a _‘no’_ halfway from his mouth, but it falters when Hinata’s grim and resolute expression glowers back at him and _fuck_ _knows_ he can’t ever deny a challenge, especially one issued by his rival. With one last withering stare at Hinata, he swipes the cupcake of his hands with a grudging sigh.

A huge smile lights up and washes over the pensive look on Hinata’s face and if Tobio feels his heart staggers a full two palpitations in his chest, he ignores it, frowning instead on the cupcake in his hand.

“How am I supposed to eat this with all these frosting?” he complains as he turns the cupcake around, finding a better angle to eat it from, one that doesn’t legitimately intimidate him with the overwhelming amount of condensed sugar.

Hinata elbows his side as he settles beside him with a loud thud. “Shh! Don’t be too loud! If Yachi-san hears you say that, she’ll get sad,” Hinata chastises in a low voice, inconspicuously darting his eyes at Yachi-san’s direction, who is still busy handing over the cupcakes to the rest of the team.

“She’s busy and she can’t hear me from here,” Tobio reasons but still, he drops the volume of his voice. He does worry about hurting Yachi-san’s feelings because of his words, despite it being the truth (See? He’s learning). He eyes the cupcake with mild disinterest. “Can’t I just shave the icing off and eat the cake?”

“No, this is all part of your training,” Hinata insists. “And…I have a special and awesome way to eat a cupcake.”

“Does it involve smashing one in your face? Because I’d be happy to oblige.”

“Was that a joke, Kageyama? I can’t really tell, the monotonous voice kinda kills the punchline.” Hinata counters cheekily and laughs as he ducks when Tobio’s hand comes up to grab his head.

“Watch and be amazed, you nonbeliever!” And with that, he breaks the cupcake in half where the wide top part and the bottom part connects, and flips the bottom half over the top with the frosting, pressing it down. He places the now rearranged cupcake atop his palms, and with a dramatic gesture, he announces, “Behold! The cupcake burger!”

It comes as no surprise that most of Hinata’s ideas from that dumbass brain of his are questionable and stupid, and more frequently than not, has gotten himself in trouble. And much to Tobio’s annoyance, Hinata drags him along to his messes. But Hinata’s _‘cupcake burger’_ is, without a doubt, one of the most ingenious and smartest thing Tobio has ever witnessed.

It looks like his awestruck realization shows on his face because Hinata smiles all smug and cocky and Tobio is far too impressed to even tell him off.

“What did I tell you? It’s cool, isn’t it?”

Tobio nods and holds out the cupcake in his hand. “Do mine.”

Hinata’s smile gets even wider and giddily takes the cupcake from him and does the same procedure again, and Tobio watches, again, in amazement.

“Here,” Hinata says as he hands Tobio his own ‘ _cupcake burger_.’

“Thanks.”

“Eat, Bakageyama,” Hinata says then takes a huge bite off his cupcake and with a wave of his hand, motions at Tobio to do the same.

Despite the cupcake appearing less threatening, Tobio still hesitates, but before he can lose his nerve entirely, he takes a small bite. Chews. Swallows. Tries not to cringe. It’s not as sweet as he anticipated, but it’s still too much for him and he continues eating in tiny portions, nibbling the cake and purposely avoiding the sugary icing.

In contrast, Hinata eats with too much eagerness, childishly loud and messy, as he does with everything else. Cake crumbs smear his puffed-up cheeks and the corner of his mouth, and tiny smudges of orange frosting blots his chin and jaw, the very same slope Tobio has been admiring earlier.

No, no, no. Not admiring, that would be weird. Just…observing.

Hinata remains utterly clueless and unaware of his state of messiness and it’s really annoying and grating and Tobio’s about to yell at him to stop eating like a toddler when his twitching fingers move instead to hold Hinata’s chin in place, wipes the icing with his thumb and licks it directly from his finger.

Only when Hinata looks back at him with comically wide eyes and beet red face does he realize what he just did in abject horror.

“Wh-wh-what the heck, Kageyama!?!”

“I did it without thinking, okay?!?”

“You don’t—You don’t _just_ do that!”

“Well, you were so messy and it was irritating me and—and for fuck’s sake, it’s not a big deal!”

Hinata huffs his red cheeks and with his lightning-fast reflexes, swipes a finger-full of icing on Tobio’s nose.

It’s five full seconds of Tobio just staring cross-eyed at the orange blob right between his eyes. Then he exhales a long shaky breath.

“Hinata…” His voice comes out low and gruff and drawled out. Hinata visibly flinches.

“I—I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m—”

Hinata gets cut off when Tobio streaks a long line of frosting on Hinata’s cheeks, curving his defined jaws, down to his stupid, delicately tapered chin.

He has no way of knowing that the reaction he gets—Hinata’s round eyes going even rounder they look more like amber stones reflecting in the afternoon light; cheeks redder than the sky as the sun dips behind the mountain on their way home; pink lips dotted with cake crumbs drawing open and forming a small, breathless ‘o’ in his shock—would be taking residence in the back of his mind, like a film reel playing over and over and over. How he keeps coming back to that moment, remembering it in extreme detail just before he goes to sleep.

And the taste of Hinata’s skin mingled with the frosting he swiped off that unnecessarily soft chin is a sweet taste that annoyingly etched itself in his tongue and memory.

* * *

Three weeks in their _‘training’_ and Tobio can say with full confidence that he’s making progress. He can now eat almost half of a chocolate bar without complaining too much and every now and then, Hinata would give him those chocolate mint candies as reward for…eating candy. Go figure.

Their designated time for training has now extended past the confines of their school and the gym. Hinata dragged him to this newly-opened cafe near their school and insisted (demanded, more like) they try the milkshakes which are supposedly ‘ _good and awesome and my classmates won’t shut up about it and I’m really curious, so let’s go there later, Kageyama-kun!’_

And it _is_ good, surprisingly. It’s not too sweet and actually lives up to its name of being a dairy product and maybe he enjoyed it a bit too much and didn’t realize he emptied the tall glass until he did. Hinata just grinned victoriously at him from across the table, the straw caught between his mouth, a line of milk streaking across his upper lip. Tobio teased him about it, ignoring the way his hands fidgeted on a napkin.

They return to the cafe maybe once or twice. Or thrice.

It’s not just the milkshake that he enjoys. He kinda, maybe, just a _little_ bit…likes Hinata’s company. Sure, he’s still loud and annoying and embarrassing as ever, but Tobio finds it more amusing than actually irksome these days. He enjoys his ridiculous and wild stories, mostly about his sister Natsu, and just by his descriptions of her, Tobio reckons she’s exactly like her fiery older brother, springy and vibrant. He likes watching Hinata literally glows at the mention of her, like the way he does when he hits a perfect spike, but it’s also different. Tobio doesn’t understand how he he can distinguish the comparison, he just does, and he also knows that it’s a good kind of different, the kind that brings a giddy feeling to his chest.

He enjoys seeing a hundred emotions pass through Hinata’s face as he talks—animated seems like an understatement. It’s as if Tobio can feel it too, like when Hinata perks up as he tells a funny story, Tobio couldn’t stop an amused snicker from escaping his throat or when Hinata deflates about something particularly sad, something inside him twinges. That specific expression unsettles him and he wouldn’t mind seeing less of.

The casual trips to the cafe marked a change. They now often see each other outside of school, to either study or play more volleyball, and sometimes just hanging out for no distinctive reason; which always ends with a ball passed between them anyway. Tobio supposes Hinata is his best friend, he’s not quite sure since he’s never had one before, or any kind of friend for that matter. He asked Hinata about it and Hinata looked at him funny like he’s declared something blasphemous like quitting volleyball before he said _‘Of course, dummy. Don’t be stupid,_ in the most incredulous voice he’s heard from him, like he cannot believe Tobio even had to ask. Why Tobio smiled dumbly at that obnoxious answer, he had no idea.

Hinata never fails to somehow include their other _'training'_ in the middle of their _‘hanging outs.’_ He’s weirdly serious about this, but not more than he enjoys tormenting Tobio into trying weird candy flavors and laughing at the faces he makes. And there are times, when they get lost into their bickering and roughhousing, Tobio momentarily forgets the reason why they do this in the first place.

He sometimes forgets when they share meat buns on days Hinata allows him to eat one, sitting on the steps of Sakanoshita like they’re a pair of adults chatting over a can of beer, in their case, over cartons of milk and orange juice.

He sometimes forgets when he invites Hinata over to study and pore over their homework in his house this weekend. He forgets it when Hinata accepts his offer with a too-bright smile and a playful smack on his back.

He forgets it when all he’s done for the past two hours is answer a single line in his literature worksheet and consumes more time looking at Hinata.

Tiny brows scrunched up into a single line, button nose wrinkling as Hinata tries to make heads and tails of the question he’s concentrating in. He’s so much like a puppy, Tobio thinks as he watches Hinata tilts his head sideways as he muses at the question, messy hair flopping to the side as well.

Then he starts looking less like a puppy and more like… _something else_.

It’s when Hinata starts biting his lips in his increasing frustration, the pink gradually transitioning to red as he worries over it more. And it gets worse when he wedged a pencil in his mouth, nibbles at the rubber end, then twirls and rolls the thing around like a lollipop. And he does it again. And again. And again, licking around the pencil with a little too much vigor until almost half of it is jammed inside his mouth— _why is he not choking to death at this point?_ —and there’s only so much Tobio can take.

“Stop that,” Tobio snaps and Hinata peers up from him, still waggling the pencil stuck halfway in his mouth. Tobio clenches his knuckles so hard his blunt nails dig painfully on his palms.

“What?” Hinata garbles around the object that’s _supposed_ to be for _writing_ and _not_ for…whatever other purposes, especially the one Hinata is aggravatingly doing right now.

“That!” Tobio barks out in his exasperation, gesturing and pointing at Hinata’s mouth. “That—that thing you’re doing!”

Hinata blinks at him like Tobio’s gone insane and for one terrifying moment, he wonders if he actually has, getting so worked up over something stupid, but _no_ , this is Hinata’s fault—Hinata and his weird, dumbass actions that make _no fucking sense_ and he could get himself hurt and Tobio is just looking out for him because that’s what friends do and Hinata is a literal hazard to himself because sticking a pencil in one’s mouth and presumably eating it is _not good_ , definitely _horrendous_ , and Hinata might end up dead due to wood poisoning or something and he can’t die because who else will hit the tosses Tobio perfected for _him_?

So with a grunt of ‘ _stupid dumbass_ ,’ he reaches inside his bag, grabs a box inside, and throws it at Hinata’s direction, landing on top of his workbook.

“If you’re hungry, then eat that,” Tobio says and _thank the volleyball gods wherever they may be_ because Hinata finally drops the pencil in his mouth and with grabby hands, fumbles excitedly at the red box Tobio gave him.

“Waaaaah! I love Pocky! Where’d you get this?”

“A girl gave it to me yesterday.”

“Oh,” Hinata’s hands still from tearing the plastic foil open. The excited look in his face morphed into something indescribable, but it must be Tobio’s imagination because at the next second, Hinata is frantically ripping the packaging apart and brandishing out a chocolate stick with an effusive _‘uwoooooh!’_

Hinata manages to eat about two sticks in the span of ten seconds and with a third one in between his teeth, does he finally offer a stick to Tobio.

“No, tha—” he starts to decline but one quirk of Hinata’s brow and he takes the chocolate stick with a click of his tongue.

They eat and attempt to study in leisure silence, or as silent as Hinata can be. At least the crunching sounds he makes are less distracting than the thing he was doing earlier with his pencil, which has teeth marks and glistening wet as Hinata writes with it.

The silence breaks when Hinata unceremoniously slams his palms on the table making the papers and textbooks rattle. Tobio jumps.

“What the hell, dumbass—!”

“We have to play the game!” Hinata announces, offering no other explanation for his sudden outburst. Tobio’s frown deepens.

“The _fuck_ are you talking about?”

“The _game_ , Kageyama!” His tone is dripping with disbelief like Tobio is the stupid one for not readily comprehending. He’s even looking at him with an impatient face, the one that spells out _‘Are you stupid?’_ in bold letters.

Tobio is about a second away from exploding when Hinata finally elaborates with a wide smile as he spreads his arms in a sweeping arc, “Pocky game!”

“Haaaah?!?”

Tobio is not that ignorant not to know this game and he has seen it on TV and in school sometimes during breaks. Girls do it mostly, and the boys would sometimes join in, and it will always end in giggles and teasing and hollering until the class representative would reprimand them for being too loud. And as with his impartiality with most sweet things, Tobio finds it incredibly, annoyingly _stupid_.

“The Pocky game!” Hinata repeats, smile getting wider. “It’s when—”

“I know how it works, dumbass,” Tobio interjects and he’s starting to get a nagging realization at where this is heading and when the delight in Hinata’s eyes burned into that of challenge, his suspicion is confirmed.

“Then let’s play.”

And despite the blaring alarms and signals going off in his head, desperately warning him not to take the bait and just endure the mocking he’ll get for backing off a challenge, he returns Hinata’s steely gaze.

“Let’s play.”

Hinata brightens up like a beacon and hurriedly reaches out the near-empty packaging for a chocolate stick as Tobio’s pulse starts palpitating three-folds its normal pace, hands suddenly getting clammy and he rubs them up and down his jeans.

With a chocolate stick in hand, Hinata practically jumps to Tobio’s side of the table and sits in front of him, grinning like a maniac. Tobio scoots back a little but Hinata only moves closer.

“Stop moving away!”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are! This will only work if we’re literally face to face, Bakageyama!”

With a huff, he settles in place (mostly because he’s backed up against his dresser and he’s trapped both literally and figuratively) and Hinata glares at him as he sits down with just a minuscule space between their knees. The palpitations inside Tobio’s ribcage quicken almost painfully.

This is just some stupid game, he consoles himself, invented by someone probably stupid, made for people who are just as stupid, and he shouldn’t be this alarmed and jumpy because he is _not_ stupid. And the sooner he gets this over with and satisfies another one of Hinata’s impulsive whims, the better, and they can continue on with their studying, which is what they _should_ be doing.

But to accomplish that, he has to endure this first.

Hinata places the bread end of the stick in his mouth and offers the chocolate end to Tobio with a nod of his head, causing the stick to bop, almost poking Tobio in the eye.

With an annoyed sigh (and definitely _not_ shaky and nervous at all), he gingerly opens his mouth and takes his end of the stick.

For what seems like the longest time, they just stare at each other, wordlessly and unmoving. Tobio sees himself reflected in those big brown eyes and it’s only now that he notices the golden flecks in the irises, how they glimmer and shine and just adds to the things that makes Hinata bright and blinding, along with his ridiculous mop of wild orange hair and the permanent rosy hue in his smooth cheeks—which are, Tobio observes, getting redder by the minute.

Then Hinata starts biting his end of the stick, amber eyes not leaving Tobio but now with that glint of challenge, breaking Tobio out of his trance and that prompts him to bite a considerable length off of his end. He sneers at his wide-eyed opponent as he chews.

That only spurs Hinata further and all Tobio can do is not move a single muscle when Hinata’s lips is literally a hair's breadth away from his when he eats the remaining stick with a huge chomp, the only part left is whatever is in Tobio’s mouth, and Hinata grins at him in victory.

“I win!” Hinata cheers and jumps up to dance around Tobio’s bedroom. “I win! I win! I win!”

Tobio is still sitting like a statue on the floor, the Pocky in his mouth melting, along with what’s left of his dying sanity. The culprit remains completely oblivious and unaware of his crime as he continues his victory dance, blissfully stomping on Tobio’s pride even more.

“ _Hinata Shouyou is a winner~ Kageyama Tobio is a big, dumb loser~_ ” Hinata sing-songs, stringing another verse about winners being awesome and losers left in the dumps and that wakes Tobio up in his frozen state to glare menacingly up at Hinata.

“One more,” he challenges, his voice deep and gruff, because _no fucking way_. No way in hell is he letting Hinata one-up him in something, even though it’s something stupid.

Hinata stops his singing and celebration all together to stare back at Tobio and he smirks.

“You think you can win this time, Kageyama-kun?” Hinata mocks, hands on hips.

“I don’t _think_ I’ll win; I _will_ win,” Tobio retaliates and to drive his point, takes the last remaining stick from the box and puts one end on his mouth.

Hinata’s smug look just gets bigger and he drops down again in front of Tobio. “You have no chance of winning against me, Kageyama-kun. You can barely take a bite earlier with all your trembling.”

“I was unprepared!” he mumbles-shouts around the Pocky in his mouth. “But not this time.”

“Let’s see.” And with that, Hinata parted his lips and slowly and languidly takes his end of the chocolate stick, staring at Tobio intently. Some of Tobio’s resolve crumbles and the arrhythmic pounding of his heart returns, but he’s adamant to win this and he builds his resolve back up with a large gulp of air.

“I go first this time,” he declares and it’s not so much as a warning because in one big bite, he surges forward and takes almost half the stick in one go, the same exact time Hinata does.

And for a full three long seconds, his lips definitely, absolutely, 100% comes in contact with Hinata’s.

In those three seconds, he realizes three things:

One, Hinata’s lips are as soft as they look.

Two, he’s doesn’t know he’s been having that observation until now.

Three, he might not be adequately knowledgeable with these kinds of things but he thinks he— _accidentally_ —just had his first kiss.

There must have been a fourth realization tickling his mind but it quickly evaporates when he slowly eases back and he’s met with an expression on Hinata’s face he hasn’t seen before, and he has, for the time they’ve known each other, has seen a lot of his varying faces and expressions, but not this.

Hinata is now at least a meter away from him and he’s leaning back with his elbows as support, like someone just pushed him down to the floor. And he looks like it, too, but a hundred times worse.

One hand covers half of his face, firetruck red from the neck up. Round, trembling eyes looks up at Tobio, and they shake along with the rest of him.

Hinata looks downright terrified and something _cracks_ in Tobio’s chest.

“Hinata…”

He moves forward, reaching out a hand to help Hinata up and Hinata visibly flinches as he looks away.

The crack spreads and whatever it is that’s so utterly fractured inside him, breaks into a million shattered pieces.

He’s about to move again when Hinata quickly scrambles from his position from the floor and starts shoving his books and pencils in his bag.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m—I forgot—errands—a-and stuff—I’m sorry,” Hinata stammers out, words barely comprehensible, as he slings his bag on his shoulders, stands and _bows_ unsteadily at Tobio, and before Tobio can say another word, Hinata is already out of his room, the quick thuds of his socked feet muffled on the wooden floor as he goes down the stairs until Tobio can’t hear it anymore.

* * *

  
Everything is normal Monday morning. Or at least that’s what Tobio likes to believe.

They meet up by the school gates and race as usual but he knows something is off when Hinata doesn’t grumble and complain about Tobio’s win. He plays sloppily, too, and when Tobio yells at him to ‘ _get a grip, dumbass!’_ Hinata just hunches his shoulders up to his ears and gives him a stiff nod. He does play better, though, and they even high-five when they successfully pulled off a perfect quick. But the way Hinata immediately retracts his hand and turns away hastily doesn’t go unnoticed.

Maybe it’s just those days when Hinata becomes less…sunshine-y than normal. Even their teammates have noticed his decreased vibrant enthusiasm and Sugawara-san even asked him if they had another fight, to which Tobio answers with a frown and shake of his head.

They aren’t fighting, Tobio convinces himself, not even Hinata’s strange reaction and exit last Saturday taking into account. They aren’t fighting, but that didn’t stop him from buying two slices of lemon cake from the cafe they frequent (Hinata’s favorite, he remembers) after two days of Hinata passive-aggressively avoiding him and Tobio has had enough and if he has to use cake as a lure for Hinata to talk to him—really talk, not the one-word responses and nods he gets—he will.

He finds him by his classroom, talking animatedly to his classmates, all smiles and laughter, but it quickly dwindles when Hinata caught sight of him looming by the doorway, awkward and probably imposing. He’s seconds away from turning back because _fucking hell this is so embarrassing_ and so out of character for him but then Hinata stands and walks right up to Tobio.

“What’s up, Kageyama!” Hinata greets, smiling toothily at him, and it’s far too bright and sweet and nothing about it seems genuine at all. Tobio swallows the forming lump on his throat and raises the cake box in his hand instead.

“Lunch,” he says and without waiting for Hinata’s answer, he drags him by the wrist out of the school building and he only releases his tight grip on him when they reach their usual lunch spot.

“What the heck, Kageyama! That hurt!” Hinata protests as he rubs his reddened wrist, glaring up a storm at Tobio.

“Sorry.”

Hinata just glares even harder then he sighs and sits at the concrete step. “Are we eating lunch or what?” he demands as he fumbles on the string of his hoodie, avoiding Tobio’s direction.

Tobio sits on a step below Hinata and offers him the box. Hinata takes it gingerly from his hands, notices the logo of the cafe, looks at Tobio with squinty, suspicious eyes, then opens the box.

“ _Uwaaaaaaaah!_ Lemon cake!” Hinata positively beams as he takes out the said cake, and for the first time in the past two days, Tobio finally sees him smile, natural and authentic and just plain happy.

Hinata takes out a slice and his excitement triples when he notices the other one inside. “And you bought two!”

“Hey, the other one’s mine, dumbass!”

“ _Oho_ , you like sweets now, Yamayama-kun?” Hinata teases with a mocking smirk at Tobio but his ribbing expression slowly and visibly falters and he breathes out an almost silent, “Oh. That ends it then.”

Tobio’s brows cinch. “Huh?”

“Your training.”

For a moment, Tobio has no idea what the hell is he talking about and it must be showing on his face because Hinata rolls his eyes and gestures pointedly at the lemon cake on his hand.

“Oh,” he says dumbly, understanding but not actually comprehending entirely.

Hinata laughs, all stiff and stunted. “I mean, you purposely bought a cake all by yourself! It’s a celebration for that, right?”

That is _not_ why Tobio bought the cake. “That’s not—” he starts but Hinata cuts him off.

“Congratulations! You passed! And just in time for tomorrow, too!” Hinata pronounces with another smile that’s too wide and blinding.

Tobio has no idea what Hinata meant by _‘tomorrow,’_ he has no idea what’s happening _at all_. He feels out of his element, everything is a warbled confusing mess, most especially his emotions and he already has a hard time understanding them in the first place.

He should be happy, right? After almost a month of enduring a sugar-coated torture, he’s finally overcome it, he should merrily welcome the freedom from sweet candies and sticky chocolate with open arms and unrestrained relief. That’s what he’s supposed to feel, not this unexpected disappointment swarming his chest, filling it brimful and clenching tight; the dawning realization that this is probably the last time he’ll ever get to share something sweet with Hinata, the last time he’ll ever get to see him hum in pleased delight as he takes bite after bite of his lemon cake.

But it doesn’t have to be, Tobio realizes long after he’s gone home, lying on his bed as he stares at the darkened ceiling of his bedroom. Why should there be a last time for anything? They can still spend time together, share whatever food they want, hang out like they’ve been doing. Why does everything have to change? Who even cares if this all started as some dumb attempt to console his ineptitude to understand other people’s feelings when he can’t even understand his own?

But he’s always been able to understand the things he want, the same way he decided that he’ll dedicate his life to volleyball, and he’s completely sure he wants to continue spending more time with Hinata, outside of volleyball, outside _any_ other reasons at all, no matter how much Hinata pushes all the wrong buttons…and all the right ones.

He lets out a ragged groan as he turns on his side, frustrated and confused and prickly all over, feeling tight against his own skin. He covers himself in his blanket despite the heat flushing his body but eventually kicking it off with an aggravated huff.

It’s…been a while since he’s done this, probably over a week now, and it’s also not the first time he gets bristly and worked up whenever Hinata crosses his mind just before he drifts to sleep. He thought it was mere coincidence, his body deciding to get excited just as he thinks how much of a huge dumbass Hinata is and how he still sucks at serving and how he gets way too enthusiastic at the smallest things, smiling glowingly like he’s purposely rivaling the sun. He tried not to think of Hinata as he put a hand on himself, tried not to think of anything at all, the action just a mere obligation to subdue his stupid teenage hormones. It’s more like a chore than giving himself pleasure, to be honest.

But now, as he shimmies off his sweat pants and closes a fist around himself, he thinks of the sensation of Hinata’s cold yet satisfyingly warm breath billowing against his face, how it hits him like a huge gust of wind, and his mind starts to conjure up a different image—Hinata breathing warm and shallow, gasping out Tobio’s name in between incoherent murmurs against his face and neck.

He makes slow, deliberate movements, languid motions of his hand just as vision-Tobio starts running his nose along vision-Hinata’s skin, taking in his summery scent of citrus and sunshine. He imagines himself tasting that ridiculously soft skin, mouthing his way from flushed cheeks trailing down to defined jaws and chin, all the way to the smooth slant of lightly freckled neck and shoulders, recalling the way Hinata’s skin tasted, but this time without the cupcake frosting to dilute his flavor.

And finally— _finally_ —he allows himself to think of the accidental kiss that’s been constantly at the back of his mind ever since it happened, stubbornly ignoring it and the repercussions it incited, especially how it made him dizzy with conflicting feelings. But there’s always been one that stands out the most and that it makes him feel absurdly giddy and warm and all that fuzzy shit. He allows that now—strokes becoming more frantic, breathing more staggered and heavy—recreating the moment in his mind but without a Pocky stick between them. He recalls the way Hinata’s lips brushed against him, the way it presses tenderly and feather-like, and his heightened imagination takes it up a notch, lips parting to properly kiss him, and Hinata would sigh due to shock or pleasure. Either way, Tobio would take that as an opportunity to delve in further, to taste more of him, more of that addicting sweet flavor. Hinata would most definitely be making all sorts of sounds because he’s loud and vocal with everything he does and Tobio would savor those keening noises, too, because he likes every annoying, weird shit Hinata does.

He likes his stupid, blinding smile that lights up the room he walks in; his stupid, pretty face that holds a hundred and one different emotions; his stupid, sunshine personality and his immense capacity to see the good in everyone; his stupid, unrelenting determination and passion and the way he just trusts blindly, completely and blissfully unaware how it can affect another person.

He likes all these things and more, and with that realization and a lurid shudder than runs through every fiber of his being, he finishes with an earth-shattering release and it’s strikingly different from the other times before because now it has purpose and meaning, and as much as it annoys him, it can only mean one thing.

A small, breathy chuckle emerges from his throat as he once again finds himself staring up the ceiling, reveling in his realization.

* * *

There’s something in the air as Tobio walks his way to school the next morning. It’s not exactly bad or foreboding, just this weird ambiance, all fluttery and sappy. Then there’s the smell.

He knows it all too well by now—that velvety aroma that clings intensively in the air he can almost taste its sickly sweetness.

_Chocolates._

And when he passes by a store bedecked to the nines with sparkly red hearts and fake plastic roses, a long table lined up by the sidewalk featuring an abundant display of chocolates and candies in all kinds, shapes, and sizes, and a huge banner headlining _‘Happy Valentine’s Day’_ in overly cursive font, today finally makes sense.

Despite his not-so-shocking realization last night and the next course of action he concluded to take after contemplating about it for approximately two minutes, he’s not gonna do it in the most obvious and mortifying way possible. He’s not gonna do the very thing he was _‘training’_ for, albeit the roles being reversed. He’s not gonna buy chocolates because that’s nauseatingly cringe-y and predictable and he’s not a _girl_. He’s not--

 _God-fucking-dammit_ , why are chocolates so damn expensive?

The said chocolate weighs like a brick in his bag, becoming heavier and heavier as the day drags on. There’s no morning practice and he hasn’t caught sight of Hinata yet. He’s impatient and fidgety, he just wants to get this over with and he’s too preoccupied looking out for a glimpse of glaring orange hair that he doesn’t notice a voice calling out his name until it’s emanating right behind him, and with a tug on the hem of his gakuran, he finds himself dragged into the back of the school building.

“I like you, Kageyama-kun. Please accept my feelings!” the girl stammers out as she bows, a box decorated with a pink bow in her outstretched hands and he’s already forgotten her name and which class she’s from but surprisingly, he’s calm when he bows back.

“I’m sorry,” he says as sincere as he can, and he thinks he’s actually doing a good job. “But I have someone I like.”

It’s the first time he said it out loud and the admission was so spontaneous and unplanned he’s even surprised by how honest and vulnerable he sounded. Even the girl doesn’t look too dejected even when Tobio declines the gift as well and she just nods and bows again, saying she understands, and hurriedly runs off.

There’s another confession by the shoe lockers; Tobio catching the girl literally red-handed as she discreetly tries to slip in a red envelope in his cubicle. He rejects her the same way, handing the scented letter back and a small pouch of cookies she’s already placed inside, and her reaction is also the same. Understanding.

By the time class starts, he’s already gone through three confessions and although he’s handled them good thus far, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to keep it up when his own planned confession is looming in the horizon. He doesn’t even want to think about how it will go, if karma would bite him hard and merciless in the butt for extending rejection left and right the whole morning.

He’s on his way to Hinata’s classroom during lunch break (again, for two consecutive days), has suffered through two more confession-rejection spiels on his way there, and still, the stupid dumbass is nowhere to be found.

This is starting to grate on his quickly thinning patience.

Tobio finally finds Hinata in the gym, and he realizes belatedly that he should have checked this place first before anywhere else, but there’s no time to wallow over being an airhead when the person he’s been impatiently wanting to see all day (since last night, actually, if he’s being honest) is right in front of him—staring at him slaw-jacked as he halts from practicing serves, wild flaming hair messy, face stippled with sweat and his cheeks tinged pink, and he looks good with his sleeves rolled up over his elbow and _dammit_ Tobio has been staring and standing like an idiot by the doorway for the past two minutes.

“Why do you look so out of breath?” Hinata asks, finally breaking the awkward silence.

“I was looking for you all morning, dumbass,” Tobio snaps without meaning to, irritation getting the best of him.

The confusion etched on Hinata’s face doubles. “Why?”

Tobio finally collects his wits to move and he steps inside, but his movements seem mechanical, rendered heavy and stiff by the box of stupid chocolates in his gakuran pocket.

“There’s…something—” Tobio starts but his next words are lost when his throat suddenly closes up. Why is he nervous now? He’s been _dying_ to do this all morning and this is just dumbass _Hinata_ , the same idiot who eats like a three-year-old and makes gibberish sound effects, and there’s no reason to be nervous about so he composes himself and continues, more determined and sure, “There’s something I wanna give you.”

And without prolonging the inevitable any longer, he takes out the chocolate box from his pocket, ignoring the way his hand trembles, and with a steeling puff of breath, extends his arms at Hinata’s direction, small red box in hand.

Hinata just stares dumbly at Tobio then at the box then back to Tobio again and Tobio’s stomach drops down to his heels when Hinata looks away and glares pointedly at the floor.

“I don’t need your pity chocolates, Kageyama. I know you have a lot to spare, you don’t have to rub it in,” Hinata murmurs to his shoes, voice thick and rough.

He doesn’t get it. For the second time since they’ve known each other, Hinata doesn’t understand him, the first being what started that stupid fight, and _fuck knows_ he doesn’t want a repeat of that. He’s so done of people misinterpreting his intentions or words, and no one can fix that except himself so he steps closer until he’s standing right in front of Hinata, the chocolate box still clutched in his hand.

“I didn’t accept any chocolates,” he informs him and Hinata whips his head back up and frowns quizzically at him, looking almost accusing.

“Huh? Then what was that training all about?”

Tobio shrugs. “Maybe it was just an excuse.”

“Excuse for what?”

“To prepare myself for the sweetness,” he says plainly and Hinata looks at him like he’s gone insane. He can’t blame him, he’s not even sure where these words are coming from.

“What are you even talking about?” Hinata asks in growing confusion.

Tobio’s body seems to develop a mind of its own, dictating what he should do and say. Or maybe this is his instinct taking over, letting him do the things he’s wanted to this whole time.

He inches even closer and Hinata backs up only for Tobio to staunchly follow until Hinata has plastered himself on the wall. Tobio towers over him and his free hand shots up, slamming his palm against the wall with a sharp thud beside Hinata’s head. Hinata reflexively jumps, eyes growing wide as he shrinks under Tobio’s pinning stare.

Tobio leans forward and Hinata still tries to move back but his effort only leads him to tilt his head up. Tobio’s gaze wanders all over Hinata’s face, lingering on his slightly parted lips a second too long, then forces himself to draw his eyes back up.

“You don’t get to let me have a taste and leave me craving for more,” he says, voice dropping low, and Hinata’s eyes just about pop right out of the sockets, jaw dropping open.

“W-what?”

Tobio slowly eases back, the hand on the wall slipping back to his side. He’s been telling people about it all morning, but it doesn’t make it less difficult when the person it’s meant to is right there, waiting, looking increasingly bewildered, and he looks so kissable right now and Tobio is half a mind to actually do it, but he back-pedals, and again, extends the now crumpled box in his hand.

“I like you,” he blurts out. “Here’s a stupid chocolate to prove it. Dumbass.”

Hinata blinks up at him then eyes the box, and much to Tobio’s relief, takes it with shaky hands. Skeptical brown eyes not leaving blue ones, HInata undoes the frilly ribbon and opens the box. Tobio has no idea what kind of chocolate he bought but it doesn’t really matter since Hinata likes every kind possible and it becomes more evident when his suspicious expression morphs into that of excitement as he takes one, and—Tobio swears he’s doing this on purpose—pops the chocolate in his mouth, chews slow and dawdling, and licks his lips leisurely when he’s done.

Tobio doesn’t know he’s been holding his breath throughout the whole ordeal nor did he noticed that his heart stopped beating entirely (or it’s pounding too fast, he’s not really sure) until Hinata snaps him out of it when he speaks.

“You bought this, didn’t you?” Hinata asks and Tobio arches a brow at him.

“And so?”

“Confession chocolates are supposed to be handmade, stupid,” Hinata says with a pout, and if he didn’t sound so petulant Tobio would’ve kissed that pout off his face.

“How am I supposed to know that?” Tobio hollers as he throws his hands up in exasperation. He’s whining, he knows. “And I just realized I like you last night! I didn’t have time!”

The corners of Hinata’s mouth finally curves up as he shakes his head mockingly. “You are _so_ dumb. And chocolates aren’t proof of love.”

“Then what is?”

“This,” Hinata says just as he pulls Tobio down by the collar, stands on his tiptoes, and presses their lips together.

A surprised sound escapes from Tobio’s throat but then it becomes less surprised and more pleased as he quickly recovers and he pulls Hinata closer with a hand on his warm cheek, the other on the small of his back, steadying him as their kiss deepens.

It’s a hundred times different than the kiss before. This one is no accident—it’s intentional and purposeful and so, so very sweet even his deepest fantasies pale in comparison. Hinata’s lips are velvety soft despite being slightly chapped and it moves gently and a little bit unsure against him. He’s awkward, they both are, and it’s far from perfect but it’s so _them_ , and that just makes it even better.

Hinata makes breathy, keening noises just like Tobio imagined, but it’s so much more satisfying to hear in person and when his noises rise in pitch and become more desperate, that only encourages Tobio more and he pushes Hinata back against the wall, pinning him, both hands now cupping Hinata’s face. Their kiss is becoming more and more frantic and the strings of his barely controllable restraint finally snaps when Hinata sighs out a silvery _‘Kageyama’_ in between their kiss, and he flicks his tongue inside, tasting him for real, and it’s a whole new religious experience, especially when Hinata’s tongue starts to slide alongside his.

“You taste sweet,” Tobio gasps against Hinata’s lips when they part, breathing heavy, and he feels floaty and ecstatic and he leans his forehead against Hinata’s to tether him to the ground.

“Hmm,” Hinata hums, lashes fluttering to look up at Tobio with hazy golden eyes. “That’s the chocolate,” he says pointedly.

“No,” Tobio insists, and to prove _his_ point, he kisses him again, and only pulls back long enough to tell him, “You taste sweeter,” before diving back to savor those sweet lips and they kiss for who knows how long until his head is spinning with Hinata’s honey taste.

They only stop when the bell rings and it startles Hinata so much he bites Tobio’s lip, to which he apologizes with another soft peck on the abused part; good thing he didn’t bite down hard enough to draw blood. Tobio supposes he can forgive him…if they continue their interrupted activity later.

And they do, right after afternoon practice, both of them volunteering to clean and lock up. They picked up where they left off, as if everything that happened in between was mere intermission, only now Hinata is straddled over Tobio’s lap as Tobio sits on the cushioned mats inside the gym's storage room. They kiss again by the lamppost at the intersection where they usually part and when Hinata reluctantly pulls back saying it’s getting late and he should go home before it gets too dark to bike up the mountain, Tobio clicks his tongue and drags Hinata to the direction of his house.

“Am I that good of a kisser that you can’t stop?” Hinata teases in between another bout of kissing after they eat dinner and showered (separately. For now). They’re all tangled up in Tobio’s bed, Hinata below him as Tobio hovers above, their fingers laced tight.

“Don’t know,” Tobio answers honestly. ”You just taste so sweet.” He starts trailing feathery kisses on Hinata’s cheeks, all the way down to his jaw and chin that distracted him like crazy weeks before.

“I thought you hate sweets,” Hinata insists in between the airy noises he makes, still being an insistent little shit, and Tobio kisses his sugar-tainted lips to shut him up.

“Not when it’s you,” Tobio counters and it’s the truth, even as Hinata tells him he’s embarrassing while blushing crimson red yet kissing him back just as fervently.

Tobio thinks he's beginning to get addicted to sweets, but only when it tastes like a dumbass named Hinata Shouyou.

**Author's Note:**

>  _I know your love is such a sugar rush and I can never get enough  
>  I'm like oh and I really want more oh  
> Yeah honey you're the sweetest thing I've ever seen before  
> I'm like a kid in a candy store_  
> 
> 
> ***
> 
> I love getting feedbacks, positive or otherwise, so drop them in the comments! Kudos are also appreciated :) Thank you for reading! ♥️
> 
> scream about kagehina or hq in general with me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/artemisia_hq?s=09) or [tumblr](https://artemisia--hq.tumblr.com)
> 
> i have more self-indulgent kagehinas in a mixed bag of fluff, smut, and everything in between [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisia_HQ/works)


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